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Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Yeah, it's labored. Too cute by half. But so is Obama. Not the "labor" part -- he does not seem to have done his homework. But he's so dreamy.

Two weeks ago BHO sent a little note to the Sec of Def. Thomas Sowell takes issue with how the note ended: "I look forward to your swift response." Says Sowell, "With wars going on in both Iraq and Afghanistan, a Secretary of Defense might have some other things to look after, before making a 'swift response' to a political candidate." True, but Senators are supposed to be important too. And it is a very grown-up sounding way to end a letter, don't you think? Very lawyerly and community organizerly. It need not indicate an overblown sense of self-importance. To find that quality, we need only look at Sen Obama and his campaign. We can do that, yes we can.

The gist of the note? Well, suicide rates are high among American troops, so, Mr or Ms Sec of Def:

What changes will you make to provide our soldiers in theater with real access to mental health care?

What training has the Pentagon provided our medical professionals in theater to recognize who might be at risk of committing suicide?

What assistance are you providing families here at home to recognize the risk factors for suicide, so that they may help our service members get the assistance they need?

What programs has the Pentagon implemented to help reduce the stigma attached to mental health concerns so that service members are more likely to seek appropriate care?

It is a shame that troop suicides are up. It must have something to do with added stress. But it seems somehow relevant to observe that this rate is still significantly lower than that of demographically comparable civilians. It's healthier, still, to be in the military. We got the same signal distortion a while back with regard to homicides committed by returned vets -- my goodness, look at how MANY there are! Alas for the left, the rate is still much lower than that of civilians. Hm. Well, never mind. The military is bad. Terrorists don't kill people, branches of government kill people. Uh, not the good branches though like food stamps and free needles.

It is certainly a bias on my part, that expects hardly any member of the left to pay more than mere lip service to concern over the welfare of the troops, abroad or returned. I see it as just posturing -- Look at me caring about these babykillers I mean idiots oops, uh, dropouts er uh y'see y'see y'see, what I mean to say is that they're gonna start talkin bout race ... sup widat? There's a possibility that my bias is wrong. But just as I personally really do not care at all about Global Warming, although I will tsk tsk over the thought of sinking islands, and polar bears that are newly endangered yet have a rising population, and frozen NY harbors, and trees that put you to sleep and then get you to kill yourself, these are not really issues that I care about. Thus, when Obama speaks about the troops, I will insist on hearing the not-unspoken demographic he puts them in, of bitter gunslinging religion-clingers.

I don't really care if or that Obama is cocky and arrogant. I'm arrogant, although not cocky. It's nobody else's business, provided I, we, get the job done expeditiously. I care more about his shallowness, his glibness. I used to be that way too, but I have generally outgrown it, and even if I haven't, my influence is minimal, and proportionate to my vices. Were I to put myself forward for a place of standing in the world, I'd have to spend some weeks or months in concerted prayer and fasting. Too much bother. I'll stay unimportant.

Obama doesn't have that excuse. He thinks being lanky and having a modulated baritone is all the job requirement there is. His innate personal attributes are all the qualifications he needs. He hasn't picked up yet on the fact that he isn't running for class president. There's a war on. One that will continue most especially if and when he forsakes the field of battle. This is no time for glibness.

Sowell asks a few questions of his own:

Does Senator Obama know how the rate of suicides or homicides among military veterans compares to the rate of suicides or homicides among their civilian counterparts?

Do the facts matter to him, as compared to an opportunity to score political points?

...do the media even care whether Senator Obama knows what he is talking about?

...is the symbolism of 'the first black President' paramount, even if that means a President with cocky ignorance at a time of national danger?

5 comments:

Will C.
said...

The more I observe, the more Obama supporters start to look like the followers of Thulsa Doom.

If you start to hear Obama utter this (or some form of): "Purging is at last at hand. Day of Doom is here. All that is evil, all their allies; your parents, your leaders, those who would call themselves your judges; those who have lied and corrupted the Earth, they shall all be cleansed."...then start running.

I must be more prophetic than I thought. Upon further research the Thulsa Doom I referred to is actually based on Thoth-Amon, servant of the serpent-god Set a character in the Conan books by Robert E. Howard. He supposedly based Thoth-Amon partially on the real persona of Hassan-i Sabbah. Google him and get some chill-bumps.

To do that one need look no further than a certain little known Illinois state senator who thought himself so important as to write TWO autobiographies before the age of 45. Gosh, even JFK only had one and at least it was about something interesting- not just a long complaint about how hard it was to be so privileged and black.

Remember who you're talking to. ;)http://www.dvdclassik.com/V2/img-critiques/conan-montage2.jpgIt would be the Thulsa Doom from the John Milius directed Conan the Barbarian. Thulsa Doom at one point chides Conan's riddle of steel by gently commanding one of his followers, a girl on a cliff, to step off, at which he exclaims "That is power" or some something.